


Irresistible Force

by hanyounomiko



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-23
Updated: 2015-05-23
Packaged: 2018-03-31 19:25:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3989833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hanyounomiko/pseuds/hanyounomiko
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Trisha Elric set her sights on something, Van Hohenheim came to realize, she generally got what she wanted.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Irresistible Force

When Trisha Elric set her sights on something, Van Hohenheim came to realize, she generally got what she wanted.

Pinako introduced her, and Hohenheim had been dead set on remaining unattached, as he always had. Had seen nothing in her at first, intentionally, held himself away from her and anyone else his bloodied hands could taint. And she was never obnoxious, never rude and never stepped over his boundaries. But she was relentless, and as a drip of water will inevitably wear away solid rock, Hohenheim eventually, inevitably succumbed to her indomitable will.

"I don't know why you're always so down on yourself. You're sweet, and smart, and quite the gentleman. Mmm, and _very_ attractive," she'd say with a wink and a tone that made Hohenheim flush in a way that was entirely new but not unwelcome.

It was not wise. But Hohenheim had never been wise.

He never touched her unless she touched him first, which was often. Subtle, gentle, he could not go an hour without feeling the brush of her fingers on his wrist, her warm hands on his shoulders.

"Relax! I'm not going to bite," she would tell him with a laugh in the daylight, and in the night, as she guided his hands on her body, so soft and delicate, "You won't hurt me. Your hands are soft, and gentle."

Hohenheim had never in his life been as terrified as when she said;

"We're going to have a baby!"

He had not reacted well. Abject terror and fleeing the room was not exactly the optimal reaction to finding out he was going to be a father.

Frankly, Hohenheim hadn't thought there was enough humanity left in him to _create_ life. Not anymore, not when the only other time life had been born from him had ended so, so poorly.

She found him sitting on an old log, crying into his hands. Her warm arms wrapped around his shoulders while she hushed and soothed him. She wasn't angry; she never was, with him, and Hohenheim didn't deserve her, but Trisha Elric was not one to be denied.

"How am I going to be a father?" Hohenheim had never had one. He'd been born a slave and raised with a number, not a name. What would he know about children?

"It's going to be just fine, you big dummy. You'll see," she soothed, and he could hear her patient smile in her voice.

He hadn't been allowed in the room during the birth, and that was really for the best. He could still hear the screaming, and he was hard pressed to keep from tearing his own hair out. Hohenheim had pressed his hands between his knees and set all his energy to resisting the urge to burst in and pull the baby out himself, if the stone would let him do that. He'd done this to her. This pain was his fault, and if anything happened he would know exactly why. He really always had, hadn't he?

It wasn't until he heard the squalling of the infant that Hohenheim realized he hadn't expected either to survive, mother _or_ child. His blood gave rise only to destruction, and all at once Hohenheim was moving because he needed to _see_ the child, to make sure it was a _child_ and not a monster, a black mass of nothing with one leering eye and--

But there was Trisha, sweating and exhausted but beaming and radiant with pride. And in her arms, a squirming bundle with raised, human little fists shaking at the air in offense at it. Hohenheim was spellbound and crossed the room in a daze, hands outstretched, and Trisha smiling at him and turning the infant towards him.

"Look, Edward. Meet your daddy," she cooed, and waved his little fist in her hand, and the child opened his eyes--

Hohenheim recoiled with a long, sucking gasp, hands snapping back away from the baby like his touch would have burned him.

_Gold eyes._ Gold eyes and a tuft of gold hair. The first Xerxian child born in more than 400 years, the first Xerxian face he'd seen in all that time, and Hohenheim didn't _dare_ touch him with his bloody hands, the hands that might suck his soul right out of his tiny body and leave nothing but an empty, cooling husk in his mother's arms.

"Now you stop that," Trisha said firmly. She reached out and took his hand, ignoring his terrified flinch and the baby's renewed wailing, and she placed it on the baby's soft head, and the child didn't die and the world did not end.

"See? He's fine," she said, even though the baby kept crying, and Hohenheim gave her a distressed look that said he didn't quite believe her.

"He's just cranky he had to leave what he was used to to join the world," she cooed at the infant, as though she hadn't even seen Hohenheim's look. "But he'll see. It's much nicer to be part of the world. Even if it can be cold and scary sometimes. --Oh no, dear... We don't need _both_ of you crying!" She smiled fondly when she looked up at him. "You really are such a softie."

Hohenheim sniffed hard, bit his wobbling lip. Edward seemed to notice his hand shaking and stopped crying to look at his father in surprise.

"Edward Elric," Hohenheim said, choking on tears. Trisha looked briefly surprised, but a moment later, she smiled softly at the child.

She understood. Hohenheim was no last name for a child; it belonged to a weak, foolish man and was granted by a weak, foolish creature. Elric was a much better name; a name that meant strength and family and a heart and spirit to overcome any challenge this child put his mind to.

"Edward Elric," she agreed.

**Author's Note:**

> Christening my AO3 account! This piece was written as a sample for a friend's website, and I've been meaning to put it on the general internet, so this seemed the perfect time.
> 
> Find me at my tumblr, which is hanyounomiko.tumblr.com!


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